Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site sfmag.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!ihnp4!mhuxn!mhuxm!sftig!sftri!sfmag!samet From: samet@sfmag.UUCP (A.I.Samet) Newsgroups: net.religion.jewish Subject: Interpreting Antisemitism Message-ID: <560@sfmag.UUCP> Date: Sun, 5-May-85 16:03:58 EDT Article-I.D.: sfmag.560 Posted: Sun May 5 16:03:58 1985 Date-Received: Mon, 6-May-85 01:52:11 EDT References: <123@unc.UUCP> <140@unc.UUCP> Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Summit, NJ Lines: 104 > >4) The key point I tried to emphasize was that there is a > >religious dimension which adds perspective to our understanding > >of antisemitism, and that an effective solution to the problem > >must recognize that we invite it by assimilating. This adds an > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ > >important dimension to our understanding of Nazism, one which has > >been neglected, perhaps because it is so disturbing. (Y. Samet) > What exactly do you mean by assimilation? Are you saying that Jews > who eat pork and don't wear hats should feel guilty for the deaths > of the six million? As far as I know, this type of assimilation > is a recent phenomenon. Perhaps 150 years old. Anti-semitism is > much older. How does your theory explain: > > The massacres at the hands of the crusaders 900 years ago? > The expulsion from England 700 years ago. > The massacres in Germany at the time of the Black Plague? > The Edict of Expulsion in Spain 500 years ago? > The hundreds of thousands of Jews in Eastern Europe who > were murdered 300 years ago during the Ukranian > rebellion against Poland. > (Frank Silbermann) 1) You asked what I meant by assimilation in the above quote. I mean, in a general sense, embracing foreign ideologies and practices (idolatry in Biblical times) and drifting away from the Torah. 2) A major source for the theme I put forth is found in parshas be'chukosai (Lev. 26). Some excerpts: "If you will walk in My statutes and keep my mitzvas and do them; safely. And I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down in security, and their will be no cause of fear... and you will chase your enemies and they will fall before you... But if you will not hear Me, and will not do all of these mitzvas, and will despise My statutes, or if you abhor My judgements so that you will not do all of My mitzvas, but you will breach My bris (covenant);so to I will do to you;I will appoint over you terror, consumption, and fever, that shall consume the eyes and bring you to despair, and you will sow your seed in vain, for your enemies will eat it. And I will set my face against you, and you shall be slain before your enemies; they that hate you shall reign over you, and you will flee when none pursues you; and if you still don't listen, then I will chastise you seven times more for your sins... And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall avenge my covenant, and you will be delivered into the hand of the enemy... and I will scatter you among the nations and will draw out a sword after you...and you will have no power to stand up before your enemies... And they will confess their sins and those of their fathers, that they rose against me, and that they walked with me in chance (more literally: THEY ATTRIBUTED THEIR MISFORTUNES TO CHANCE); (and they recognize that) so too I walk with them in chance and brought them to the lands of their enemies; only then will their uncircumcised hearts be humbled and they will make amends...Then I will remember My covenant with Yakov, and also My covenant with Yitzchok, and also my covenant with Avroham I will remember... because they despised my judgements and abhorred my statutes. And still, for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away or abhor them completely, to destroy them totally, and to nullify my covenant with them, for I am the L*rd their G*d..." This major theme, that our security is tied to our allegiance to the Torah, is reiterated in the prophets and the sages. However, one may have to be a prophet, or a great sage, to relate specific Divine retributions to specific sins. However, this does not stop us from recognizing, in general, that Divine retribution or chastisement is behind major catastrophes. Also, some Rabbis feel that they can extract general object lessons from something like the holocaust. The following quotes are from "Rejoice Oh Youth" (Rabbi Avigdor Miller): "The worst persecution in history took place 20 years ago, in one of the most civilized nations of the world. Nothing even remotely similar ever happened under the old despots, despite their religious bigotry and their absolute monarchy. Germany, on the contrary, had little religious motiviation; it had been a liberal democracy...here we see a most striking correlation. The Jewish communities under the old despots were intensely loyal to the Torah...but the Jews of Germany and the adjacent lands neglected the Torah in a manner never before seen...therefore they were denied ... protection, and the very worst destruction in history came upon them in a manner never before seen...The prophets, who were extreme in their denunciation of every sin, did not once accuse anyone of disbelief in the Torah. Even the idolators observed the laws of the Torah... The correlation between the the worst massacre in all history... with the worst defection from Torah is undeniable. It is immaterial whether the gentiles are barbarous or civilized. They do not make history. The behavior of the Jews towards G*d's Torah determines the phenomena of history." There is much more explanation required to clarify and amplify these ideas, but this is enough to digest and react to for the meanwhile. I am impressed that Frank is able to discuss these touchy issues with an open mind. I hope that other readers can put aside sensitivities and old habits of viewing these issues and look forward to some more productive discussion. Yitzchok Samet